Why does Trump want to take control of Gaza and can he do it?

Donald Trump's proposal that the US could "take over" and "exploit" the Gaza Strip, removing the population from that territory, has been very poorly received and harshly condemned by the international community.

The US president's comments come as a ceasefire is in progress between Hamas and Israel, and amid questions about the future of Gaza after the conflicts.

The United Nations commission estimates that about two-thirds of the buildings have been destroyed or damaged after 15 months of fighting, writes bbc.

Trump's vague proposal could mark the biggest shift in US policy toward the Middle East in decades, upending the broad international consensus on the need for a Palestinian state - including Gaza and the occupied West Bank - to exist alongside Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the idea was "worth looking at," but it has been strongly rejected by Arab nations and some US allies.

Why did Donald Trump say this now? If Donald Trump is right about one thing, it's that decades of US diplomacy towards Israel and the Palestinians have failed to resolve the conflict.

Read too How realistic is Trump's plan for the Gaza Strip?

Peace proposals and presidents have come and gone, but the problems have deepened. Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the war in Gaza that it sparked were the horrific results.

Trump became rich as a real estate developer and, with that perspective, made a valuable observation: if Gaza is to be rebuilt, from scratch in some places, it doesn't make much sense for hundreds of thousands of civilians to be sheltered in the rubble.

The task of rebuilding Gaza will be monumental. Unexploded ordnance and mountains of debris must be removed. Water and power lines must be repaired. Schools, hospitals, and shops must be rebuilt.

Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, has said this could take years - and while that happens, the Palestinians will have to go somewhere.

However, instead of considering keeping them close to home, almost certainly in camps in the central and southern parts of the Gaza Strip, Trump says they should be encouraged to leave – permanently.

Trump believes that in their absence, a "Middle Eastern Riviera" under American ownership will rise from the ashes, offering thousands of jobs, investment opportunities and, ultimately, a place where "the people of the world can live."

Why are Trump's comments so controversial?

Even for a president who spent much of his first term disrupting US Middle East policy – ​​including moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognizing Israel's sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights – this was a surprising proposal.

In their wildest imagination, no American president ever imagined that resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict would involve taking over a chunk of Palestinian territory and removing its population. To be clear, to do so by force would be a grave violation of international law.

Some Palestinians may choose to leave Gaza and rebuild their lives elsewhere. As of October 2023, up to 150 have already done so.

But others cannot or will not, either because they lack the financial means to do so, or because their connection to Gaza – a part of the land they call Palestine – is simply too strong.

Many Gazans are descendants of people who fled or were expelled from their homes in 1948 during the creation of the state of Israel - a period that Palestinians call the Nakba, the Arabic word for catastrophe.

The thought of another Nakba will be very painful for many of them, and they will cling to their reduced lives in what remains of Gaza with a powerful determination.

Read too Turkey calls Trump's Gaza remarks 'wrong and absurd'

For Palestinians who dream of a state of their own, next to Israel, losing part of it will feel like an amputation.

Gaza has been physically separated from the West Bank since 1948. Previous rounds of negotiations, as well as Trump's 2020 "Visions for Peace," included plans for tunnels or railways that could connect the two.

Now Trump is simply telling the Palestinians to give up Gaza permanently.

While he does not appear to support the forced deportation of civilians – which is against international law – Trump is clearly encouraging Palestinians to leave.

Palestinian officials have already accused Israel of blocking the supply of tens of thousands of caravans that could help Palestinians stay in the less damaged parts of the territory while the rest is rebuilt.

Arab countries that Trump says should accept up to 1.8 million Palestinian refugees, mainly Egypt and Jordan, have expressed anger.

Both have enough problems of their own without this added burden.

What is the current status of Gaza?

Gaza was occupied by Egypt for 19 years before being taken by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.

It is still considered occupied by Israel under international law, which Israel disputes. It says the occupation ended in 2005, when it unilaterally dismantled Jewish settlements and withdrew its military.

About three-quarters of United Nations members recognize Gaza as part of a sovereign state of Palestine, yet the US does not.

Read too "Our homeland is our homeland" - Palestinian officials' reaction to Trump's proposal to relocate Gaza residents

Separated from the outside world by barbed wire and an Israeli naval blockade, Gaza has never felt like a fully independent country.

Nothing and no one moves in or out without Israeli permission, and an international airport – opened with much fanfare in 1998 – was destroyed by Israel in 2001 during a second Palestinian uprising.

Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade on Gaza, citing security reasons, after Hamas' victory in Palestinian elections in 2006 and the expulsion of its opponents from the territory after intense fighting the following year.

Long before the last war, Palestinians had begun to consider Gaza an open prison.

Can Trump take Gaza?

There is no doubt that the US has no legal claim to this territory, and it is far from clear how Trump intends to enforce American rule.

As with bold claims for US control over Greenland or the Panama Canal, it is still not clear whether Trump really means it or whether his comments are an opening, an implausible negotiating position before a painful set of negotiations over the future of Gaza.

Several plans for governing Gaza after the war have been discussed.

In December, the two main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, agreed to form a joint committee to oversee its administration – an agreement that has so far led nowhere.

At other times, discussions have been about creating an international peacekeeping force, possibly composed of troops from Arab countries.

Last month, Reuters reported that the United Arab Emirates, the US and Israel had discussed forming an interim administration in Gaza until a Palestinian Authority (PA), which already has control over parts of the West Bank, is ready to take over.

Read too Far-right Israeli politician Ben Gvir hails Trump's idea as 'the only solution'

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously publicly insisted that the PA will have no role in running Gaza after the war.

In a limited sense, American soldiers are already on the ground. An American security firm has hired about 100 former American special forces to guard a key checkpoint south of Gaza City and to search vehicles of Palestinians returning north for weapons.

Egyptian security personnel were also seen at the same checkpoint.

These may be the first, tentative signs of an international – and perhaps US-led – presence in Gaza.

But this is by no means a US takeover of Gaza, something that would require a broad military intervention in the Middle East – the kind of intervention that Trump has long said he wants to avoid.

Could there be consequences for the Israel-Hamas ceasefire?

Negotiations for the second phase of the two-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have just begun, but it is difficult to see how Trump's shocking comments will help advance them.

If Hamas sees as the product of this process a depopulated Gaza – not just without Hamas, but without all Palestinians – it may end up having nothing to talk about and holding onto the remaining hostages it took on October 7, 2023.

Netanyahu's critics have accused him of seeking excuses to break off negotiations and resume the war. They will conclude that, with these comments, Trump is a willing collaborator.

Read too Trump says US will take over Gaza's "destroyed zone" and make it the "riviera of the Middle East"

On the other hand, the Israeli prime minister's right-wing supporters have expressed satisfaction with the US plan to take over Gaza, reducing the possibility of cabinet resignations and making Netanyahu's political future look more secure.

In this sense, Trump has given Netanyahu a powerful motive to maintain the ceasefire.

What did Donald Trump say about the West Bank?

When asked whether he agreed with the US recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank, Trump said he had not yet taken a position but would have an announcement to make in four weeks.

This comment has caused alarm among Palestinians, for whom such an announcement would undoubtedly be seen as another blow to a two-state solution.

Recognizing the legitimacy of Israel's settlements in the West Bank would be a step with far-reaching consequences. Most of the rest of the world considers them illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

Read too Trump accused of calling for 'ethnic cleansing'

During previous rounds of peace talks, negotiators accepted that Israel would retain large blocs of settlements as part of a final agreement, perhaps in exchange for some slivers of Israeli territory.

In 2020, Trump brokered the Abraham Accords, which secured the historic normalization of relations between Israel and two Arab states, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain.

The UAE signed that agreement on the condition that Israel not annex parts of the West Bank – a condition that may now be in jeopardy. /Telegraph/